
EU Approves Increase of Beef Imports From the US, Calls for Removal of Tariffs in Exchange
On Thursday, EU lawmakers approved the proposal to import more beef from the US, a move that is sure to improve trade relations between the EU and the US. The European Parliament voted 457-140 in favor of increasing US share of the 45,000 ton quota for beef imports.
In addition to approving raising beef imports, the EU lawmakers also urged the US to reconsider tariff rollbacks on steel and aluminum imports from the US in exchange for this move. The European Parliament is also seeking that Trump call off the threat to impose tariffs on EU cars and auto parts.
In 1981, the EU had banned the presence of growth hormones in meat across European nations and had also decreed a ban on importing meat containing such growth hormones in them. In 2009, the EU reached an agreement on a specific quota of the 45,000 tons hormone-free beef it imports from the US as well as from other suppliers.
With hormone-free beef exports from Australia and Uruguay to the EU rising, the US’s share of beef exports slid to around 30% subsequently. However, the latest move by European Parliament increases US’s share of beef imports to 18,500 tons initially and close to 35,000 tons over the next seven years.